Line #31 Website/FinFurAndFeatherBureauOfInvestigation


1	''Ever wanted to go on a secret mission with a hamster, elephant or a chicken? Now's your chance.''
2
3	There's something about the SpyFiction genre that makes it perfect for geography {{edutainment}} works. Kids think the idea of being an international spy is awesome and [[TruthInTelevision spies really do]] have to be up on the geography, culture, and history of the places they work in. In the 80s, Creator/BroderbundSoftware did it with Franchise/CarmenSandiego, in the 90s, Magazine/HighlightsForChildren did it with ''Top Secret Adventures'', and in 2003, WGBH created their own entry in the genre, but with a few twists...
4
5	The world these secret agents protect, you see, is a WorldOfFunnyAnimals that's also a WorldOfPun and a WorldOfSnark.
6
7	Welcome to the [[http://www.fffbi.com/ Fin, Fur, and Feather Bureau of Investigation. ]]
8
9	The FFFBI is an educational website featuring flash games, quizzes, and quasi-text adventures that educate about geography and world cultures. It's also really, really, funny, and quite {{Troperiffic}}.
10
11	The animal agents of the FFFBI travel the world thwarting outlandish plots by villains like CRUST, a conspiracy of crustaceans bent on ruling both Earth and Mars, [[TheCracker the Cyber-Toothed Tigers]], a gang of feline computer criminals, and the [[AtrociousAlias Sandwich-Faced Daddy's Boys]], a group of none-too-bright gangster gnus. They're sometimes assisted by other law enforcement agencies like [[UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard Scotland Barnyard]], [[InterpolSpecialAgent [=InterPoultry=] ]] and their [[InterserviceRivalry bitter rivals]], the Clean-cut and Impossibly Intelligent Interspecies Agency, or CIIIA. (Did we mention this is a WorldOfPun?)
12
13	Operatives of the FFFBI include:
14	* '''Deputy Director Napoleon''', a rather incompetent and dim-witted king penguin obsessed with food, the [[TheSpymaster head of the agency]].
15	* '''Duty Officer Abe Soloman''', a hammerhead shark MasterOfDisguise who can be a bit scatterbrained but has his heart in the right place.
16	* '''Agent Gwendolyn Wrist''', a hyperactive hen obsessed with multitasking, something of a CloudCuckoolander.
17	* '''Agent Nelson''', a somewhat slow-witted African Elephant and [[WithCatlikeTread alleged stealth expert]].
18	* '''Agent Harry Elbow''', a meek hamster [[GadgeteerGenius technology expert]].
19	* '''Agent Bridgette [=LeMoo=]''', a French cow, the resident [[CunningLinguist linguistics expert]] and OnlySaneWoman. On loan from [=InterPoultry=].
20	* '''Agents Sonia Surge and Gina Glitch''', bickering twin computer bugs and martial arts enthusiasts.
21	* '''Agent Mitch "The Itch" [=McGurk=]''', a Jazz-loving weasel who prefers to work alone.
22	* '''Agent Wrench''', a literal grease monkey who works as a janitor and mechanic. [[TheSnarkKnight A bit cynical.]]
23	* '''Coffee Guy''' (real name unknown), a hippie/beatnik mandrill with a MysteriousPast and a [[MustHaveCaffeine coffee obsession]] in charge of post-mission debriefing.
24
25	!!This Dossier lists tropes used by the FFFBI
26	* TheAce: The [[MeaningfulName Clean-cut and Impossibly Intelligent Interspecies Agency]].
27	* ActionGirl: Wrist, Surge and Glitch, and [=LeMoo=] are all effective secret agents, although Surge and Glitch are the most focused on combat. [=LeMoo=] isn't usually a field agent, but manages to save the day in ''I Left My Art In San Francisco''.
28	* AngelsPose: Glitch and Surge strike these in some of the photos of them.
29	* AtrociousAlias: The Sandwich-Faced Daddy's Boys have one in-universe-- their name is meaningless, not at all intimidating, and was only chosen because apparently every other possible name for a gang had already been taken.
30	* CivilizedAnimal: They wear clothes, build and use technology, and engage in espionage. (And have the same countries and cities as in our world.)
31	* CunningLinguist: Agent [=LeMoo=] speaks "over 22 languages" including "all major European, African, and Asian" ones (and Pig Latin), and apparently attempted to learn three more over the course of a weekend.
32	* TheCracker: Most of the Cyber-Toothed Tigers' crimes focus on causing havoc to computer systems or the Internet.
33	* DaytimeDramaQueen: Agent [=LeMoo=] is apparently obsessed with Spanish-language Telenovelas, but claims it's only to keep her Spanish fresh.
34	* DefectiveDetective: The FFFBI agents all have their neuroses and idiosyncrasies and tend to screw up comically, but they do always manage to save the day in the end. (At least if you've been playing right.) InUniverse, other agencies consider them incompetent-- a letter from the director of Scotland Barnyard on [=LeMoo=]'s desk describes them as "less like a workplace, and more like a family, and a dysfunctional one at that." [[TrueCompanions But [=LeMoo=] still prefers it to working anywhere else.]]
35	* EdutainmentShow: A website that features games and text adventures teaching about geography as well as some other subjects like art and science.
36	* FBIAgent: All of the operatives, plus the player in missions where you're addressed directly.
37	* FunWithAcronyms: FFFBI, CIIIA, CRUST, and more.
38	* TheGhost: The Bureau Director is never seen, although Napoleon once refers to them as "she", implying that the current office-holder is a female of an unknown species. On a larger scale, the Axis of Weasels are referred to as one of the FFFBI's enemies, but are never encountered in the course of the mysteries.
39	* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Most of the international missions feature a few words of the local language spoken in dialogue, and there's usually a puzzle based on the phrasebook portion of the Dossier.
40	* GratuitousFrench: Agent [=LeMoo=] sometimes throws French words into her English dialogue.
41	* InstantExpert: In ''Greenback Blues'', Agent [=LeMoo=] claims she is attempting to learn three new languages over a weekend. In ''I Left My Art In San Francisco'', she becomes an art expert over the course of another weekend.
42	* InterpolSpecialAgent: [=InterPoultry=] is Interpol's equivalent in the FFFBI-verse. [[NonIndicativeName Despite the name]] and the many bird-related puns in the briefing statement about them, they do employ non-avian agents like [=LeMoo=], a Jersey cow.
43	* InterserviceRivalry: The intense rivalry between the FFFBI and CIIIA, to the extent that Napoleon issues an agency memo devoted to strategies for defeating them at [[SeriousBusiness tug-of-war at an inter-agency picnic.]]
44	* InterspeciesRomance: In ''Destination: India'', Agent Nelson, an elephant, has a CelebrityCrush on Gita Rai, a tigress.
45	* IntrepidReporter: Bunkum and Codswallop are a duo of frog journalists who occasionally expose the FFFBI's weaknesses. They're something of a parody of Woodward and Bernstein as depicted in Film/AllThePresidentsMen.
46	* KangaroosRepresentAustralia: Agent Adelaide Cairns, a kangaroo, is the contact from the FFFBI's Sydney Bureau Office in ''Destination: Australia''.
47	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: While we mostly see anthropomorphic animals in the course of the missions, CRUST's mission statement says they want revenge on humans for eating their compatriots with butter, and in some of the missions where he talks directly to you, Napoleon says that the FFFBI normally doesn't hire humans (because HumansAreMorons), but they're asking you for help this one time because they're desperate.
48	* MasterOfDisguise: Agents Soloman and Nelson are both supposed to be this. Soloman's disguises work more-often InUniverse, but both tend to look comically like [[PaperThinDisguise paper-thin disguises]] in the illustrations, probably out of RuleOfFunny.
49	* MissionControl: Most of the international missions have an active agent pared with an agent at home by HiddenWire who gives them advice and background on the locale.
50	* MustHaveCaffeine: Coffee Guy, hence his name.
51	* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Agent Nelson's bio mentions that he is named for Nelson Mandela. Presumably this would make Nelson his first name, but it's hard to tell, as he has OnlyOneName.
52	* OnlySaneWoman: Agent [=LeMoo=], usually.
53	* OvertOperative: The FFFBI's agents never really try to disguise the fact that they're spies.
54	* PantheraAwesome: Most big cats in the FFFBI universe seem to be quite popular or charismatic. Tiger [[PunnyName Skip Intro]], the head of the Cyber-Toothed Tigers, is a criminal mastermind noted for his charisma, tigress Gita Rai is a famous Bollywood actress, and Agent Bao the clouded leopard is the closest the FFFBI comes to a suave, TuxedoAndMartini-style agent.
55	* PaperThinDisguise: Quite frequently, usually intentional because of the comedic nature of the site.
56	* SpyFiction: The same sort of comical, nonalchoholic take on the Martini-flavor as ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' and ''Film/SpyKids''. Kool-Aid?
57	* WorldOfPun: And how.

Context Website / FinFurAndFeatherBureauOfInvestigation